Isra-Mart srl:Indian biomass boom promises to tackle manure pollution

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State of Punjab reveals plans to produce 1,000MW of power from agricultural waste within five years

The Indian state of Punjab aims to generate 1,000MW of power from agricultural waste in the next five years, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said yesterday.

According to reports in the Chandigarh Tribune, the minister told the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference 2010 that the state government aimed to ensure that by 2015 no agricultural waste will be burned without the energy being harnessed.

He added that Punjab produces 21 million tons of rice straw annually in addition to other biomass and crop residues, providing the state with a substantial energy source.

Sukhbir Badal said that biomethanation or anaerobic digestion technologies were more suitable for the state as in addition to power generation, these would produce biomanure which can be used to fertilise fields.

Biomethanation involves the introduction of microbes known as methanogens to biomass which encourage methane production as the biomass decomposes. The methane can then be burned to produce heat and electricity.

Currently the state operates a 1MW biomethanation plant near Ludhiana which claims to be the first of its kind. It uses 235 tons of cattle manure to generate 18,000KWh of electricity and 45 tons of organic manure a day.

Raw cattle dung had been a major source of pollution in the city of Ludhiana and continues to be a problem for other cities in the area.

Farmers are now earning Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 (£43 to £57) per acre per year by selling agro residues every year to biomass plants, according to Badal.

The Punjab government has set a target to produce 10 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The Punjab Energy Development Agency has so far commissioned 318MW of renewable energy projects comprising of 250MW of biomass co-generation projects, 28MW of biomass power projects, 37MW of small hydro projects and 2MW of solar projects, as well as the 1MW biomethanation project in Ludhiana.

The agency said there are a further 132MW of renewable power projects currently under construction, including 100MW of co-generation, 20MW of standard biomass and 11MW of hydro, taking the total generated by the state to 700MW by 2012.

The sector is expecting a further boost next year when the government introduces nationwide feed-in tariffs for biomass and solar power.